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McCracken Poston Jr.

McCracken Poston Jr. (Photo: James Curtis Barger)

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(Literary) Linda Konner, (Literary) Linda Konner Agency

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McCracken King Poston Jr. is a criminal defense attorney and former state legislator in the Georgia House of Representatives. He gained national attention for his handling of several notable cases that were featured on CNN Presents, Dateline NBC, A&E's American Justice, and Forensic Files, as well as in People Magazine and the Washington Post. He lives in Ringgold, Georgia.
His first book, "Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom" (Citadel, Hardcover, 2024), is the true story of a murder trial that rocked the nation - a murder charge with horrific allegations of decades of human captivity. While struggling with his past and now a difficult and uncooperative client in the present, Poston had to learn how to gain the trust of Alvin Ridley, a litigious failed TV repairman and malcontent who seemed hellbent on kneecapping Poston's best efforts at developing a defense strategy. Discoveries Poston made just before the trial shocked the world, and we all learned the true story of Alvin and Virginia Ridley as the trial played out.

Note: There was little known or said about autism in adults in the late 1990s. But there are today over five million undiagnosed neurodivergent souls who could experience the same ordeal that Alvin "The Zenith Man" Ridley had to endure.

ZENITH MAN Cover
TRUE CRIME

ZENITH MAN

BY McCracken Poston Jr. • POSTED ON Feb. 20, 2024

A firsthand, true-life account of an attorney and a client both down on their luck and facing long odds for success.

In the early autumn of 1996, former Georgia state representative McCracken Poston Jr. was putting the finishing touches on a losing congressional election bid. Nearly a year later, Ringgold, a small town in the same county, was upended by a strange murder case. Alvin Ridley, a reclusive and odd-seeming TV repairman, placed a call to local police from a payphone, telling authorities he thought his wife Virginia had “passed out.” When they asked if she was breathing, Alvin said no, and it wasn’t long before the law began to suspect foul play. In the period between his wife’s death and his eventual arrest, Alvin ran into and then began badgering Poston, so much so that the failed politician—who had restarted his law practice upon leaving the state legislature for civilian life—agreed to represent Alvin, should it come to that, if Alvin promised to stop calling in the middle of the night and waking up Poston and his new wife, Alison. Once Alvin was arrested, the pair set about proving his innocence—not only of her murder but also of the charge that, prior to Virginia’s death, Alvin had imprisoned her for years. Defending Alvin was an uphill battle from the start for Poston, who had to routinely deal with outbursts and confusing behavior from his client, who once claimed—truthfully, it turns out—that he missed a court date because of a “giant spider bite.” Poston remained a loyal advocate for Ridley, but even he sometimes could not help but lose patience and lash out; it is in these moments between attorney and client that readers connect with the humanity of each man. At one point, Poston lost his cool and berated Ridley for his nonexistent hygiene and dirty clothes, insisting that he shower and change. Ridley arrived the next day “literally, wearing the same clothes again from yesterday. I was almost happy that he’d ignored my outburst about his hygiene. I still felt bad about it.” As the trial began to take shape after a critical continuance, Poston was finally allowed into Ridley’s home, where he began to realize that he—and the town writ-large—may have misunderstood the person they called the “Zenith Man.”  

Readers will sympathize with Poston’s eroding patience and feel endeared to him for regretting his harsh treatment of his client; they will likely develop a begrudging respect for Ridley for not conforming to someone else’s conventions. By turns a humorous character study and a searing examination of the blind spots in our justice system, Poston’s work is an emotionally affecting page-turner sure to be loved by fans of true crime and courtroom procedurals. While many works centered on trials run the risk of becoming either too forensic and emotionless or too riddled with bias and attachment, Poston’s book manages to maintain an effective balance. Readers will both identify with and trust this narrator and are sure to enjoy riding alongside him through what must have been the strangest case of his career.

A propulsive legal drama with a unique case, an unforgettable client, and a flawed but hardworking attorney.

Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024

ISBN: 9780806542799

Page count: 320pp

Publisher: Citadel

Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024

Alvin explains a scene from the book.

Awards, Press & Interests

Day job

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Favorite line from a book

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you" - Maya Angelou

Hometown

Ringgold, Georgia

Unexpected skill or talent

Public Speaking

‘Zenith Man’ a Wild Ride of Love, Death and Justice in Small-town Georgia, 2024

'Zenith Man' is Legal Drama Like No Other, 2024

'Zenith Man", A Surprisingly Confessional Courtroom Tale, 2024

A Redemption Story, 2024

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